[OldRoadToad]

And some more news for the hip-dac 3!!!!

Headfonics has just made it a BANG For Your BUCK award! A big Thanks to Headfonics for the Award!


Read it all right Here!

Cheers!!

Get Yours...

Thank you for the link! I am hoping that next year a new version will appear sans MQA. I have two Echobox Explorers that look to be complementary to this unit. Both are in perfect condition and have been updated to have my three (paid for!) music services on them along with a MicroSD for the songs that I own,

Again, thank you so very much for the link! Oh...And if possible, please have multiple color choices. Thank you.

ORT

 

[passie42]

Thank you for the link! I am hoping that next year a new version will appear sans MQA. I have two Echobox Explorers that look to be complementary to this unit. Both are in perfect condition and have been updated to have my three (paid for!) music services on them along with a MicroSD for the songs that I own,

Again, thank you so very much for the link! Oh...And if possible, please have multiple color choices. Thank you.

ORT

There is a firmware available to download which doesn’t support MQA. I am happy with MQA. It is the reason I switched from Apple music to Tidal. Costs me double but sound is much better.

 

[VishnuKare]

There is a hiss with campfire Andromeda with iematch on. And there is a channel imbalance at low volume. These 2 issues make hip dac 3 unusable for sensitive items. And I confirm that iematch impacts the dynamics. No improvement with previous versions with respect to hiss and channel imbalance.

 

[NightBeast]

If connecting to an iPhone with Lightning connection (e.g. iPhone 14), don’t you need the camera attachment to get proper hi-res out from the iPhone?

Does USB-C to USB-C with an iPhone 15 allow for full hi-res out? I have an iPad Air 3 with USB-C, and I’m curious whether that would allow for hi-res.

 

[passie42]

A

There is a hiss with campfire Andromeda with iematch on. And there is a channel imbalance at low volume. These 2 issues make hip dac 3 unusable for sensitive items. And I confirm that iematch impacts the dynamics. No improvement with previous versions with respect to hiss and channel imbalance.

I am about to buy the Satsuma from soundkitchen. I hope this is not a Campfire problem…

 

[passie42]

If connecting to an iPhone with Lightning connection (e.g. iPhone 14), don’t you need the camera attachment to get proper hi-res out from the iPhone?

Does USB-C to USB-C with an iPhone 15 allow for full hi-res out? I have an iPad Air 3 with USB-C, and I’m curious whether that would allow for hi-res.

I have hi-res when connecting to my iPad Pro 2021 via usb-c…

 

[NightBeast]

I have hi-res when connecting to my iPad Pro 2021 via usb-c…

Excellent. Thanks!

 

[Rattle]

There is a firmware available to download which doesn’t support MQA. I am happy with MQA. It is the reason I switched from Apple music to Tidal. Costs me double but sound is much better.

Where is this firmware available? I looked a while back but didn't see one.

 

[passie42]

Where is this firmware available? I looked a while back but didn't see one.

On the Ifi website. It’s a firmware from 2022 but supposedly compatible to the hip-dac 2 and 3.
There is also a firmware with MQA and a special filter which supposedly makes the sound of MQA better but from what I read it doesn’t.
After reading countless post about MQA I decided to go back to Apple music when my trial on Tidal ends. I like the way how MQA sounds but that is because MQA emphasis some frequencies and it doesn’t sound how the artists meant it. I am tempted to keep Tidal but in the end this hobby means for me is to listen to music the way it is supposed to sound and not how it sounds artificially enhanced by a streaming service.

Firmware:
From here

https://ifi-audio.com/support/download-hub/

choose hip dac 3 and enter your serial and you will be taken to the firmware download page.
Use it at your own risk.
For me there is no reason to flash. Not for the MQA filter or to remove MQA support. You will gain nothing.

 

[iFi audio]

To my knowledge, the only firmware listed for the HPD 3 is 7.4, and I am unaware of its ability to remove MQA.

I will certainly check this when the tech folks are back from holiday, but installing anything on your product that isn't listed for it could be bad and lead to issues down the road.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!!

 

[passie42]

To my knowledge, the only firmware listed for the HPD 3 is 7.4, and I am unaware of its ability to remove MQA.

I will certainly check this when the tech folks are back from holiday, but installing anything on your product that isn't listed for it could be bad and lead to issues down the road.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!!

You only get to the firmware page when you choose hip dac 3 and enter your serial.
So why you say it isn’t listed for the hip dac 3?

 

[Rattle]

I'm not really interested in using MQA more in removing it but it actually makes no difference if it's there or not. I don't stream and would never use tidal if I did anyway. Any difference is down to mastering anyway more than if its MQA or Redbook or hi res IMO.

 

[iFi audio]

You only get to the firmware page when you choose hip dac 3 and enter your serial.
So why you say it isn’t listed for the hip dac 3?

Here is a screen shot of the HPD 3 download page

Which version did you install?

Cheers!!

 

[BS5711]

Excellent. Thanks!

I have an iPad Mini 6 with USB-C and recently bought an iPhone 15 Pro and while I don’t have a Hip Dac I can confirm that the USB output from both to any of several DAC/Amps I own, including three iFi products, is proper unaltered hi res

 

[NightBeast]

I have an iPad Mini 6 with USB-C and recently bought an iPhone 15 Pro and while I don’t have a Hip Dac I can confirm that the USB output from both to any of several DAC/Amps I own, including three iFi products, is proper unaltered hi res

Interesting. Does USB-C remove the need for the camera adapter kit to get hi-res from an iPhone or iPad?